Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-04-01
KISSANES CAREER.
WONDERFUL STORY or SUCCESSFUL
cEiKE.
Exactly Why es Desires to Have the Old
fncist cnt AgainstHi
cuSshed.


saving money These mscals were TO
the last doei,eadroit and clever in their
manner of working and Tong deiied the
law. After thousands OF dollars had
been catlicrcd into their joint treasury,
however, the, of the fOrgers and two
of them happened to ~ the chief con-
spirators- did a little piece OF work in
November. :, which WIS clever but
not quite clovef.cnsugh, and they were
gathered into The meshes OF legal net
thrown about them.
Bill kissne, lyman Cole, and An
drew Findlav, the men arrested, were
indicted for forgery in the first degree
in having obtained S6,0l8 from the
Chemical Donk on forged check, and
again fer having beaten She American
Exchange Hank ont Of 81, 900 on an
other forged cheek. The case was dilly-
dallied with by District-Attorney Oakley
Hall, shifted from one court to another,
and Cole and Findlay were finally, for
s0mo reason or other. allowed 10 go.
kissane, less fortunate. was convicted
in the Court of General Sessions and
brought before Recorder FallOn for SEN
tence. The Recorder had determined,
he afterward said, to impose the full
term OF five years imprisonment, bat
when srraigned kissane, then a spright-
ly Young man. made such an able adj
dress for lonie ncy, pleading his youth,
his good family connections, his pre-
vious good character, and presented oil
his points with such eloquent force that
the Recorder, affected 10y the harangue,
reduced the intended sentence 10 one
a two years and six months. OF this
the enterprising forger served but nine
months, when, 10y some influence, the
Governor Yves brought to grant par
don, and he was released. He left the
prison apparently Il changed-a good
man. During his imprisonment he had
gained the friendship of every official
about the place. He was a genial, won
derfully gifted young fellow, and when
he left them tho prison officials pre-
dicted for him a great and honorable
career.
For some years after this no one in
this part OF the country heard anything
about the ,x-forger He had gone
West, and that was all that was known
of him. But at the beginning of the
civil war there was q report which
reached New York that Kissane had
somehow struck it rich in Ohio, and
was doing q rushing business in steam
boats plying between points along the
Ohio river. Hardly had this report
been digested in New YOrk-his forging
exploits had won him n name and
everybody bad known him or OF him
when another and far different report
came bowling along. A big steamboat,
the Martha Washington, part OF
which kissane owned, had been burned
to the waters edge at "A wharf, and the
circumstances suggested incendiarism.
The boat was heavily insured-too hea-
Willy, it was thought. Kissane was ar
rested, but after long investigation the
authorities failed to get any definite
proof. and he WAS finally discharged.
lie disappeared again, but after
lapse of further years turned up in ra-
tier startling manner away ont in
Missouri. lie had made home in a
little settlement in that State, and rs n
farmer had begun to get along beauti-
fully, when an unfortunate thing Oc-
Cured. One OF his neighbors one day
had the temerIty, not knowing ks
ssne'S record, to quarrel with him, and
To denounce him for his part in n ques-
hOnable money transaction. Early on
the following morning this incautious
man Cor rather his body was found
peacefully lying ut his front door,
bullet-hole through his head, and not
much that was valuable remaining in
his establishment Kissane, when they
went to look for him, had renewed his
old trick and had disappeared, and to
this day the people of that part have
not laid eyes upon him.
This disappearance was more OF
lasting one than either previous depar-
turc, and it becomes the mission of the
press in this city to make it appear that
the willy Kissane's last and final disap-
pearance into the uncertainties OF the
hereafter is yet to be made. Before
TINT gentleman had made his first bow
before an admiring audience in this city
me had, perhaps unfortunately, been
bom-in Ohio. His was an excellent,
respected family, and young kissane
was given every possible opportunity to
improve his mind and to prepare for u
successful struggle for fame and for
tune. In this he was so apt pupil
that, when still youth, he had identi-
fed himself somewhat unpleasantly In
the burning down of the establishment
Of Mr.. Francis Darr. Kissanc had gone
INTO business, Darr was his successful
iival, and Dsrr's place was destroyed.
Tho promising young man went East.
Darn staid at home and cherished re-
Juembrance OF his rival. When the
civil war broke ont Dsrr joined the
Union army and fought his way up to
the rank OF general. At IT'S close he
started in business in New York, aud
remained here for years, occupying
quito a prominent position as a mer-
chant Some years ago, however, he
determined to 60 West, and, being
something of q civil engineer, he went
10 California. There he became inte-
rested in mines, and after time
accepted a position as engineer to
one of the biggest mining corpora
tions in the State. One day he went toa
meeting Of the Board of Directors.
Among them lie found the former rival,
whose memory he had industrously
cherished during all the intervening
wears. He asked the rivals name and
II was told him. He never had heard
IL before, but Kissane," he knew, was
susceniible TO many and subtle changes.
Kissane by any other name couldn't
entirely wipe out his record. Inquiries
led to the discovery by General Darr
that Kissane, under his new
name, WAS one of the richest
men in San Francisco and one of the
most respected. lie had been engaged in
some Of the largest financial transactions
made in the country, and was looked
np TO as an able financier. He truly
was. He lived in a magnificent house
in Oakland, was married. and 10 all APP
pesrances perfectly content with life
and its fruits. General Darr kept quiet
for time, and then, meeting his old
rival III tho street one day, accosted
him as "Bill Kissane." The eminent
financier repulsed him, repudiated the
nane, recognized General Darr, grew
confused, and. recurring to his former
practices, abruptly disappeared-but
only from General Darrs sight.
The latter gentleman then used many